City Yard Getting Closed Circuit TV

POSTEDDecember 11, 2012 9:47 p.m.

With several thefts of equipment and city property occurring at the public works corporation yard over the past year, the City of Oakdale has invested in a series of closed circuit cameras mounted in strategic locations throughout the Fifth Avenue facility.

The city council recently approved spending $19,155.74 for high-grade high-resolution cameras, wireless links, control stations, and associated software to enable monitoring and enhance the security system that will make it more difficult for thieves, vandals, and trespassers to take advantage of the city site.

“It gives us good control of the facility after hours,” said Finance Director Albert Avila. “The cameras will provide additional security for the equipment.”

A total of nine cameras will capture the perimeter of the facility including the yard area, gates, fence line, and adjacent buildings. The type of camera purchased will allow for viewing under different lighting conditions and be capable of recording license plate numbers.

The system will feed IP lines to the police dispatch center that will allow for instantaneous monitoring and record the feeds to allow for after-the-fact review by police personnel.

Oakdale Police Chief Lester Jenkins said he was involved in the selection of the equipment and chose the vendor, Datapath of Modesto, because of their previous work with the city. The Datapath set up was also able to use the city’s current recording server compared to the other bidder, APCS Technology, which listed the need for an additional recorder.

“They offer a more robust system than we have now,” said Jenkins, who explained the Datapath arrangement that will be purchased has more “PTZ” or pan-tilt-zoom capabilities.

Jenkins said he was aware of a city utility trailer, a welding torch, and surplus fire hydrants that had been stolen from the public works yard over the last year. Other concerns to the facility include growing tagging incidents.

Avila said the cameras and security software was not in the city’s initial budget, but with some personnel reductions the costs can be covered with the current budget with no impact to the general fund.

Installation of the cameras is expected to be completed by the beginning of the year.